Recently I traveled my 170 mile trip home (I work in a different town from my family, and only visit home on the weekends) and arrived only to be totally disgusted that I did not pack any jeans. Worse, not a single pair of pants! Now before I draw a pity party, let me say I do have a slim wardrobe in my closet at home, but most of it is dressy clothes, like what I might wear out for the evening or to church. Not clothes you would lay around in on Saturday.

So the plan was to get up the next morning and get myself some jeans to keep there. My husband and I left early, and hit the stores. Since I was looking for other things (I had a list) we went to Best Buy first. I needed an S video cord (I broke one at school) and I was to get a mini-dv video camera for another teacher at my school. I had a school procurement card, and so decided to do this in the same shopping trip. Before I knew it, we were home, it was lunchtime, and I still was wearing the pants I had worn at school the day before. I totally got sidetracked by gadgets, electronics, and fun stuff in Best Buy, and never even thought once about needing some pants. My husband and I did a little shopping for my boys’ Christmas too. Teenagers’ stuff comes in smaller packages but rack up in price! I left w/ sticker shock.

What drove this decision? I don’t know. I guess seeing all the stuff I wanted, and deciding that wearing a pair of pants two days in a row wasn’t so bad after all.

So what is driving this decision? My presentation may or may not get picked up, but that’s okay. It’s just a topic I feel strongly about, and want educators to have some basic knowledge too. Could it be pay? No, sadly none of these organizations pay presenters (though in years past the SCASA one has.) I was informed today by a person who would know that SLI will no longer pay stipends. I have presented numerous times at some of the above mentioned conferences, and the experience each time is very rewarding, and strokes my ego enough that I don’t have to have money to want to return. (Though money is nice.)

So what drives my decisions to do this? If I had to pinpoint a reason, I would have to say it is my passion for education and making sure educators realize the resource that may be in the school library.

I’ve been accused before of raising the bar on my fellow school teacher-librarians, but that is most definitely not my intent. My goal, rather, is to show all that our role is pivotal in the school, and we can address many needs, including educating our parents and teachers. So as I feel I have a message to share, I’ll send in a proposal to present, and see were it leads me.

So if I need to pinpoint what drives my decision-making, I would have to say it is my passion. Not always common sense either, since I wore a pair of pants two straight days in a row this weekend.

One Response to “What drives our decisions??”

I LIKE it when the bar is raised – gives me lots of ideas, cool tools, something to work towards.

Professional isolation affects many teachers but probably bedevils even more librarians. In my area of upstate NY, there a number of districts with a single K-12 Library Media Specialist. Before my “rebirth” via online professional communities, I rarely had the opportunity to interact with my peers. Reading a journal in no way duplicates conversation and collaboration.